Category: Actors (Page 160 of 343)

10 from Denzel

June 10, 2009 /

Friday’s big release is Tony Scott’s remake of a relatively obscure, but beloved, seventies suspense-action flick, “The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3.” I haven’t seen the new version, but the original is notable for surprisingly large amounts of comedy given the deadly subject matter, and one of the most authentic recreations on film of what it feels like to be in New York City. It’s also one of a handful of action/tough guy films to feature the unlikely but always effective presence of Walter Matthau.

But while the original had Matthau, the new one has another actor who, in a very different way, is also in a class by himself: Denzel Washington. To celebrate the career of the charismatic, old-school movie star and true master thespian (and an personal favorite of mine), Bullz-Eye is covering ten films from the actor’s past you may not be familiar with. Even playing in a frequently tasteless, shtick-based, comedy as a complete unknown, he had class and hard-earned talent to boot.  Read “Washington Insiders” here.

And the most fun part of working on a feature like this? It’s discovering surprising moments from a star you thought you already knew. Like this moment, featuring a bit of New Orleans/Professor Longhair style piano blues and some reggae Bob Dylan. I don’t think that’s him playing piano, but I believe he’s actually singing there, and not badly.

Action Movies, Actors, External Movies, Movie Dramas, Movies

SAG Members Vote “Yes” on New Contract, 78% to 22%

June 10, 2009 /

As reported by Variety and Nikki Finke, the acrimonious battle between factions of the Screen Actor’s Guild ended in a huge victory for the more status quo forces backed by Adam Arkin, Tom Hanks, George Clooney, and Sally Field, as opposed to what I guess I have to call the more radical, or perhaps, activist wing of the guild as embodied by Martin Sheen, Ed Harris, Melissa Leo and, in certain interviews, a very acrimonious Ed Asner.

Alan RosenbergIn what has to be a huge defeat for embattled guild president Alan Rosenberg, 78% of the 30% percent who voted sided against him and for the plan. He nevertheless says he will run again and I’m sure he’s not wrong when he cites the economy as a major factor in the vote. (You can see videos from both sides of the dispute from a past PH post here.)

Especially now that the outspoken Nikki Finke herself is aware of our existence, I’m terrified of saying something stupid about a topic I barely understand. (A little sad to have even less of a head for nuts-and-bolts business matters than actors, but there you go. Also, I’m jumping on this particular news train very late in the story.)

I will say, however, that as a resident of Southern California, residing in Anaheim South Hollywood, I am a little relieved. I’m sure there was a case to be made by the “No” side, but, for the rest of us, a major strike is not what we need out here, at least in the short term. At the very least, we’ve also been spared a catastrophic run on Two Buck Chuck in the wine section at Trader Joe’s.

Actors, Actresses, External Entertainment

Harlem Blues

June 9, 2009 /

With NPR launching its jazz page, A Blog Supreme (the title is a play on John Coltrane’s signature recording), I thought for the next week or so we’d highlight some great jazz moments from classic, or at least interesting, movies. For whatever reason, some of those may involve beautiful women.

Today, we’ll lead off with a scene from one of the movies we’ll be highlighting in an upcoming Bullz-Eye feature on Denzel Washington. This is Cynda Williams in my favorite sequence from Spike Lee’s beautiful, problematic follow-up to “Do the Right Thing,” 1990’s “Mo’ Better Blues.” You’ll see some very familiar faces pretending to play instruments, but that’s really Cynda’s voice we’re hearing. (You’ll also see those fake musicians uttering brief Italian phrases via the magic of cinema — you take what the the great god YouTube has to offer.)

Actors, Actresses, External Movies, Movie Dramas, Movies

Sunday Morning Movie Moment: “The Maltese Falcon” and More

June 7, 2009 /

Just five folks, having a little talk.

If that suave, portly fellow with the deep voice and the little short one with the German accent bargaining with the ultra-cynical Bogie and poor Mary Astor look familiar, here’s a great, great post about two of Hollywood’s greatest character actors from the mysterious Self-Styled Siren, and from “Hollywood Canteen,” a World War II propaganda cameo-fest from Warner Brothers, another clip with the famed pair having some fun at the expense of their respective images (the good stuff starts at about 0:30).

Actors, Actresses, External Movies, Movie Dramas, Movies

“…Fresh insights into the collaborative effort of filmmaking…”

June 6, 2009 /

I’ve been going back and forth all day about how to deal, if at all, with the more sensational/embarrassing aspects of the ongoing story of David Carradine’s death.

I’m not doing a gossip column here. Ethical issues aside, on a day to day basis, I have little interest in it. However, there are times when I’m just as fascinated by the more dramatic details of other people’s lives as anyone, particularly if they were interesting people, and David Carradine certainly qualified. In any case, if you’re a cinephile and you deny being a bit of a voyeur, you’re probably no fun to spend time with.

Also, how can anyone ignore a possible auto-erotic asphyxiation, a morality tale about what can happen when self-described recovering alcoholics apparently return to drinking, and even an apparent suspicion of the possibility of foul play? Considering my linking to the stories above, I’d be a huge hypocrite to deny my own interest in this stuff, but as Will Harris’ memorial piece from the morning of reminds us, this was a human being and there’s a good chance I might well find myself dying in some embarrassing way. (Perhaps choking on a pastrami sandwich, clad only boxers and a mustard-stained Astro-Boy t-shirt, while watching “Once More With Feeling” for the 200th time.)

In any case, I don’t have much to add to it except for one more link, from close to where I live in the heart of American Cinephilia. It’s writer Chris Willman‘s account of a post-screening Q&A involving Carradine and legendary cinematographer Haskell Wexler — an important filmmaker and a complex dude in his own right — gone seriously weird. I don’t know how I missed hearing about this event when it actually happened. I’ve been to hundreds of such post-screening discussions and while things have occasionally gotten slightly prickly under the surface when former coworkers reunite to discuss eventful productions, I’ve never seen anything rivaling this. But, as the putative host of the event, a screening of Hal Ashby’s epic biopic, “Bound for Glory,” implied in the comment I lifted for the title of this post, it does kind of a give us a peak inside the hairier side of picture-making, which may have been just a bit hairier in the 1970s.

Actors, External Movies, Movie Dramas, Movies, News

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